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The ''concept'' of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.. The term ''engineering'' itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word ''engineer'', which itself dates back to 1325, when an ''engine’er'' (literally, one who operates an ''engine'') originally referred to "a constructor of military engines."〔Oxford English Dictionary〕 In this context, now obsolete, an "engine" referred to a military machine, ''i. e.'', a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). The word "engine" itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ''ingenium'' (c. 1250), meaning "innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention."〔Origin: 1250–1300; ME engin < AF, OF < L ingenium nature, innate quality, esp. mental power, hence a clever invention, equiv. to in- + -genium, equiv. to gen- begetting; Source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.〕 Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering〔(Engineers' Council for Professional Development definition on Encyclopaedia Britannica ) (Includes Britannica article on Engineering)〕 entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering (the original meaning of the word "engineering," now largely obsolete, with notable exceptions that have survived to the present day such as military engineering corps, ''e. g.'', the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers). ==Ancient Era== The Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and the Colosseum, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pharos of Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, Teotihuacán and the cities and pyramids of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, the Great Wall of China, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of the ancient civil and military engineers. The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep.〔 As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (a Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC.〔Barry J. Kemp, ''Ancient Egypt'', Routledge 2005, p.159〕 He may also have been responsible for the first known use of columns in architecture. Ancient Greece developed machines, both in the civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, the earliest known model of a mechanical computer in history, and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes are examples of early mechanical engineering. Some of Archimedes' inventions as well as the Antikythera mechanism required sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing or epicyclic gearing, two key principles in machine theory that helped design the gear trains of the Industrial revolution and are still widely used today in diverse fields such as robotics and automotive engineering. Chinese and Roman armies employed complex military machines including the Ballista and catapult. In the Middle Ages, the Trebuchet was developed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of engineering」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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